Sunday, 3 December 2017
Monday, 8 February 2016
Edwin Starr – Hell Up In Harlem (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) 1974
Blaxploitation has long been a favourite genre of mine! Most folk know the obvious (and probabaly most commercially successful) ones such as Isaac Hayes 'Shaft' and Curtis Mayfield's 'Superfly'. However there is a wealth of additional superb titles to add to those. One that has caught my ears through a thankful digital release in 2001 is Edwin Starr's 'Hell Up In Harlem'. With productions and songs from Freddie Perren and Fonce Mizell, Hell Up
in Harlem is the scathing and soulful soundtrack of the motion picture
starring Fred Williamson. This was Edwin Starr's last album for Motown,
which probably accounts for the woeful lack of promotion. This is a solid album throughout with quality production & vocals. The bone picker, however, is "Easin' In," a great midtempo number with
cool backing vocals, and a great reading from Starr; it has chart buster
written all over it, yet Motown never released it as a single. Pick up a copy play it from top to bottom it is pure genius.
Earth Wind & Fire have lost their Founding Father and one of their Mightiest Elements!
Muarice White (1941 - 2016)
Earth Wind & Fire
Rest in Power
Maurice White (1941–2016) (Earth Wind And Fire
Copy the BEST Traders and Make Money : http://bit.ly/fxzulu
Copy the BEST Traders and Make Money : http://bit.ly/fxzulu
Maurice White (1941–2016) (Earth Wind And Fire
Copy the BEST Traders and Make Money : http://bit.ly/fxzulu
Copy the BEST Traders and Make Money : http://bit.ly/fxzulu
Wednesday, 23 December 2015
Thursday, 12 November 2015
Back! To the Jazzfunking Future!
Hi! Welcome to the blog I started 7 years ago to the day! Where did I go? Well with all the various 'Social Network' platforms becoming more popular I thought I'd give them a try and test the experience! Without going into 'Chapter & Verse' the 'experience' became more bland and repetitive and tedious until my disillusionment was complete and I wanted to return to a more 'personal' platform to share my passion for the music and the music only! The rest I'll leave to those who prefer a 'Speakers Corner' approach! Looking through the Blog it remains intact with all the various references to my exploits at 'Internet DJing' which I started back in 2006 when it was quite 'novel' and certainly a great deal of fun! I have removed some of the old references and links to shows long since passed into obscurity but left the 'old' posts intact as they serve as an interesting Timeline not least for me!
So, what now with the Blog? Well, to start with I'd like to share some more obscure (to me anyway) albums that I've discovered mainly through the Internet and it's various ways of enlightening & informing me to gems of the past that I certainly either missed or were never given proper exposure first time around. That's not to say I'm not an avid collector of all the new stuff that's being released. it's just that the new stuff in general gets more exposure and I'm not not in the business of trying to 'Market' new material. There are already many great web sites and portals that do that already.
My chosen genre is all that encompasses Jazz Funk & Fusion in the main but not necessarily excluding my love of Soul & R&B where the fancy takes me! Comments are always welcome and encouraged as long as they are relative to the music in question. Comments are moderated at least for a while to avoid the obligatory Spammers. I will always try to include some sound clips (at least 2 mins each track) but for copyright purposes no full length tracks. Wherever possible I'll include a Spotify link but my use of You Tube will be limited only to where the original upload was of a suitable quality.
To start off I'm revisiting an album that actually wasn't 'unknown' to me but I only had a rather poor copy and this 2014 Japanese CD re-release reawakened my interest and gave my ears a treat to a far higher quality of sound then I was previously able to listen to! A beautiful album of spiritual soul and Brazilian influenced jazz from Azar Lawrence. Lawrence is a stellar sax player with a sound that's a bit like Gary Bartz, which means that he fits in perfectly with the Fantasy-era Prestige Records sound. The set's predominantly acoustic, with lots of modal grooves – and angular post-Coltrane playing that's very similar to Bartz's work on the Libra album from his early days. Players include Raul De Souza on trombone, Ron Carter on bass, Billy Hart on drums, Dom Salvador, who is really allowed to shine on piano on a few tracks, and drummer & percussionist Guilherme Franco, who brings a world of wonderful percussion on a couple of numbers.
So, what now with the Blog? Well, to start with I'd like to share some more obscure (to me anyway) albums that I've discovered mainly through the Internet and it's various ways of enlightening & informing me to gems of the past that I certainly either missed or were never given proper exposure first time around. That's not to say I'm not an avid collector of all the new stuff that's being released. it's just that the new stuff in general gets more exposure and I'm not not in the business of trying to 'Market' new material. There are already many great web sites and portals that do that already.
My chosen genre is all that encompasses Jazz Funk & Fusion in the main but not necessarily excluding my love of Soul & R&B where the fancy takes me! Comments are always welcome and encouraged as long as they are relative to the music in question. Comments are moderated at least for a while to avoid the obligatory Spammers. I will always try to include some sound clips (at least 2 mins each track) but for copyright purposes no full length tracks. Wherever possible I'll include a Spotify link but my use of You Tube will be limited only to where the original upload was of a suitable quality.
To start off I'm revisiting an album that actually wasn't 'unknown' to me but I only had a rather poor copy and this 2014 Japanese CD re-release reawakened my interest and gave my ears a treat to a far higher quality of sound then I was previously able to listen to! A beautiful album of spiritual soul and Brazilian influenced jazz from Azar Lawrence. Lawrence is a stellar sax player with a sound that's a bit like Gary Bartz, which means that he fits in perfectly with the Fantasy-era Prestige Records sound. The set's predominantly acoustic, with lots of modal grooves – and angular post-Coltrane playing that's very similar to Bartz's work on the Libra album from his early days. Players include Raul De Souza on trombone, Ron Carter on bass, Billy Hart on drums, Dom Salvador, who is really allowed to shine on piano on a few tracks, and drummer & percussionist Guilherme Franco, who brings a world of wonderful percussion on a couple of numbers.
Azar Lawrence - Summer Solstice (1975)
[2014 Japan Rare Groove Funk Best Collection 1000]
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